Archive for the 'Syracuse Crunch' Tag Under 'Ducks' Category

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Ducks made a small trade Monday in sending right wing Dan Sexton to the Tampa Bay Lightning for center Kyle Wilson.

Sexton, 25, played in 88 games with the Ducks over the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons but has spent the last two in the American Hockey League with the Syracuse Crunch and Norfolk Admirals.

Signed to a two-year contract in the summer of 2011 that turned into a one-way deal, Sexton had five goals and 11 assists in 27 games with Norfolk this season after posting 13 goals and 30 assists in 71 games with Syracuse.

Wilson, 28, will report to Norfolk. A veteran of 411 AHL games, the ninth-round pick of Minnesota in 2004 has a history with Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau and assistant Bob Woods as he played four seasons with the Hershey Bears.

Wilson played 32 of his 39 NHL games with Columbus in 2010-11, posting four goals and seven assists. He also played in five games with Nashville last season.

Goaltender Jeff Deslauriers and winger Dan Sexton, who both spent time in the Ducks' system last season, signed professional tryout contracts with the club's American Hockey League team in Norfolk, Va.

Deslauriers and Sexton had not been playing during the NHL lockout, which is now 108 days old. The two were part of the Syracuse Crunch's run to the AHL playoffs last season before the Ducks moved their top minor-league affiliate to Virginia.

Both were signed to two-year deals in the summer of 2011 and their contracts became one way in nature this season. The Ducks did not bring them to Norfolk even though they would have likely cleared waivers.

Deslauriers, 28, split time between Syracuse and Anaheim in 2011-12, going 6-9-0 with a 3.75 goals-against average with the Crunch and 3-1 with a 2.74 goals-against in four games with the Ducks.

Sexton, 25, was the fourth-leading scorer for the Crunch last season as he had 13 goals and 43 points while adding a goal and two helpers in four playoff games. The former Bowling Green standout last played with the Ducks in 2010-11.

Kyle Cumiskey, who spent last season with the Ducks' American Hockey League team, signed a one-year contract last week with Modo of the Swedish Elite League.

Cumiskey, 25, had six goals and 23 assists in 57 games with the Syracuse Crunch last season. The former Colorado Avalanche defenseman was called up by the Ducks on a couple of occasions but never appeared in a game.

The Ducks acquired Cumiskey from Colorado on Oct. 8 for minor-league defenseman Jake Newton and a conditional draft pick.

The Ducks finalized their long-anticipated agreement with the Norfolk Admirals for them to become their new top minor-league affiliate in the American Hockey League.

It will be a multiyear arrangement. The Ducks spent the last two seasons in Syracuse but were on the move when the Crunch opted not to renew their agreement.

Norfolk became an option when the Tampa Bay Lightning opted to move to its AHL affiliation to Syracuse even after a season in which the Admirals captured the Calder Cup title. The Lightning cited a desire to have its affiliate closer to other AHL teams and lower travel costs.

"We are excited to be affiliating with the Admirals in a great hockey market such as Norfolk, Virginia," Ducks GM Bob Murray said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the Norfolk organization and continuing the winning tradition the team has created at Norfolk Scope Arena. We would also like to thank the Syracuse Crunch and its fans for their support over the last two seasons."

Trent Yawney, who coached the Admirals for five seasons when they were the farm team for the Chicago Blackhawks, will return as coach after taking over for Mark Holick last season and leading the Crunch to a playoff berth. Marty Wilford will serve as Yawney's assistant.

The Ducks are set to team up with a championship outfit for their new American Hockey League affiliate -- at least in name only.

Negotiations are believed to be in the final stages and the signs are all apparent that the club will make Norfolk, Va., its new base of operations in the AHL after a rocky two-year stay in Syracuse.

The Ducks could make an official announcement on the move to Norfolk as soon as next week. The team has also been waiting for the Tampa Bay Lightning to reveal its plan to replace the Ducks in Syracuse, which the team and several news outlets reported Thursday.

It will essentially be a straight swap of affiliates, which means than the players and staff of the Admirals that recently won the Calder Cup championship will head to upstate New York. Likewise, the Ducks' minor-league players that are currently under contract will represent the new Admirals after playing as members of the Syracuse Crunch.

Left wing Patrick Maroon, who led the Ducks' minor-league affiliate in scoring this past season, signed a one-year contract extensino with the club on Thursday.

Maroon scored 32 goals, had 42 assists and was a plus-17 for the Syracuse Crunch, giving him AHL career highs in each category. The 24-year-old ranked third in the league in scoring with 74 points and was tied for fifth in goals.

His new contract is a two-way deal that will pay him $550,000 in the NHL and $105,000 in the AHL, which is a raise from the $60,000 he made after after signing a one-year contract with the Ducks last July. Maroon does not have arbitration rights.

The Ducks originally acquired Maroon from Philadelphia along with forward David Laliberte for defenseman Danny Syvret and center Rob Bordson. Laliberte is playing in Germany, Syvret played for the St. Louis Blues' AHL team in Peoria and Bordson finished last season with the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms.

Kyle Cumiskey's final game of the 2011-12 season could be a short synopsis of his professional career to date.

In Game 4 of the Syracuse Crunch's American Hockey League first-round series against St. John's, Cumiskey tried to play through a hip injury that would have kept him out of the lineup if it was the regular season.

But it was the playoffs and the puck-moving defenseman gave it a go even though he wasn't nearly at full strength after being unable to finish Game 3. Dealing with injuries is nothing new as he's most recently had to come back from concussion issues that stalled his progress into a regular with the Colorado Avalanche in 2009-10.

For a while now, Cumiskey has had to battle through one or another and it especially isn't easy to deal with when you're constantly trying to prove that you belong in the NHL.

Tough times often build character. The immediate future is unclear for the native of Abbotsford, B.C., but he at least showed the Crunch and the Ducks organization how resilient he is.

Iiro Tarkki, who spent the past season in the Ducks organization leading the Syracuse Crunch to the American Hockey League playoffs, has signed a two-year deal with Salavat Yulaev Ufa of the KHL, according to the team's website.

Tarkki, 26, started slowly with the Crunch but became their primary goaltender in the second half and backstopped the Crunch to its first postseason apperance in four years. A veteran of the SM-liiga, the top league in his native Finland, Tarkki signed a one-year deal with the Ducks and went 24-17-4 with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.

When he wasn't playing for Syracuse, Tarkki was serving as the backup to Jonas Hiller after Dan Ellis tore his groin muscle in January. Despite the strong season, Tarkki was facing a crowded net with Hiller signed through 2014, Jeff Deslauriers inked for next year and the Ducks to officially lock up Swedish netminder Viktor Fasth following the world championships.

Tarkki appeared in his first and only NHL game on Jan. 8 when he relieved an injured Hiller late in the first period against Columbus. He stopped seven of the 10 shots he faced in a 7-4 victory, which earned him the win.

The Ducks have re-signed forward John Mitchell to a two-year contract on Thursday, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

Mitchell's contract is a two-way deal. CapGeek.com reported that his NHL salary is $525,000 for each of the two seasons along with a signing bonus of $10,000 for 2012-13, while he'll make $55,000 in the American Hockey League.

Mitchell, 25, had eight goals and nine assists in 50 games for the Syracuse Crunch while also chipping in a goal in four playoff games. He has 17 goals and 19 assists in 110 AHL games with the Crunch over the last two seasons.